India defeat Aus, move into semis

This has got to be one of the most difficult match reports to write. After watching, and reporting on, dismal perfomance followed by disgraceful performance, there comes a point when the heart goes numb and the head gets increasingly reluctant to see silver linings.

And then, when you watch the Indians outplay the world champions with the bat, the ball, and in the field, the immediate instinct is to forget objectivity and sing unabashed hosannas.

Hosannas would, what is more, be what the Indians deserved. There were superlative individual performances, the best of which got Yuvraj Singh his first man of the match award. But what was really balm to the heart of Indian fans who have wallowed in disappointment too long, is the way the team, for once, played as a team. Everyone was thinking, everyone was contributing, there was no one player who was not pulling his weight out there -- and it is a very very long time since I've been able to say that about an Indian cricket team.

Of all the many moments that gave rise to optimism, the biggest, for me, came in the 46th over of the Australian innings. By then, with Gillespie and McGrath at the wicket and needing over 8 an over to win, India could have been forgiven for feeling a touch complacent. But as the bowler prepared to run in, you saw Vijay Dahiya, the young wicket-keeper, suddenly stop proceedings and frantically signal for the 12th man. When Sriram came racing out in response to the signal, Dahiya quickly picked up the spare helmet lying behind his back, and asked Sriram to take it off the field.

A little thing, that. But it showed that even then, the thinking caps were firmly on. Dahiya obviously figured that no close fielder would be placed, so there was no more need of the helmet. And there was also the risk that a stray ball might hit it and give five runs -- so Dahiya took that risk out of the play.

That, more than anything else, was symptomatic of the Indian effort of the day, for me. The side has had the tendency to always expect the captain, and a couple of the seniors, to do all the thinking while they hung around waiting to be told what to do. The youngsters in the side, though, seem to have a different attitude -- Yuvraj Singh, Vijay Dahiya, Zahir Khan, all were a proactive lot today, and suddenly, the team had a young, upbeat feel to it.

The tone was set right at the beginning. Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee have over the past two days been talking of having a plan ready for Sachin Tendulkar, with the former saying that his goal was to take out the Indian batsman in the first over. In the past, most notably in Australia, Sachin has gone into the confrontation seemingly on the defensive, intent on not letting the Australians break through. This time, he apparently was hell bent on taking the initiative.

In McGrath's first over, Sachin, spotting a gap out on the on side, looked to take one from outside off and hit over midwicket. The ball flared off the bat, the power behind the shot and the pace of the bowler producing a six over the head of a bemused Gillespie at third man.

McGrath watched it fly, then had something to say to Sachin. I wish we knew what it was, and could tape it and replay it for Sachin each time he goes out to bat. In the next over, Sachin waltzed down the wicket like he was playing an offspinner, picked McGrath on the rise, and deposited him over long off for six. The next ball, back he came down the track, another smashing drive on the up through mid off and as McGrath stopped in his tracks, Sachin walked forward, and very clearly, and for the first time that I've known him to do this, looked at McGrath and went, 'Just f*** off!'.

The look of sheer surprise on McGrath's face said it all -- the Aussies weren't expecting this.

That set a mood, an attitude, and it was one of unbridled aggression. Ganguly was more subdued, but noticeably, when Brett Lee bounced him, Ganguly instead of flinching, went for the hook. Very amateurish, yes -- Ganguly is not a happy hooker. But the shot was attempted, and the tone was being maintained.

Sachin fell attempting to hit Brett Lee back over his head on the up -- more bad choice selection to a lifting ball, than any great work on the part of the bowler himself. Ganguly too had a tame dismissal, to a lifting ball going to leg, his attempt to flick finding the glove through to the keeper.

But interestingly, the mood set in the beginning showed no sign of being allowed to flag. Dravid and Kambli took over, and both played nifty shots, Kambli in particular looking very impressive on the drives to the pacemen. Very noticeably, the initial flourish has gone out of Kambli's pick-up, and his shots seem a whole lot crisper and less risky as a result.

Dravid fell in a rather strange way, to a ball drifting to leg. The flick off the pads was the right idea, but Dravid, who seemed a touch eager to play his shots, reached for it, played it too early, and where he would normally have played to backward square, played this squarer to the man at deep square leg.

That brought Yuvraj Singh to the wicket for his first ever hit in international cricket -- and from his first scoring shot, a fluid on drive that took the ball on the rise and crashed it to the boundary, he was in a zone where he could do no wrong. His first three scoring strokes were the on drive, the off drive, and the cover drive, and that set a tone for his innings.

The statistics are easily told -- Yuvraj's innings of 84 off 80 deliveries was the highest by an Indian on debut (though he actually made his debut against Kenya the other night, today was his first turn at bat), beating the previous highest of 82 by Brijesh Patel. But what impressed was the dead calm temperament, the kind of cool that comes to players who have a 100 ODIs under his belt. As long as his seniors were around, he went about playing his own game, playing fluid shots (and he plays them all, both the horizontal and vertical bat shots) to deliveries in the slot and, more importantly, easing the ball into gaps for singles when he didn't get the ball in the slot for the big hit. That is a common failing for Indian batsmen, who play the four or nothing game, which is why it was refreshing to see a lad just turned 18 play with such maturity. More to the point, once Robin was out, Yuvraj seemed to grow in stature, taking over the mantle of senior player.

There is a risk of going overboard about this lad -- and given how he played today, the superlatives would all be deserved, and more. There is, too, the risk of creating too much hype, raising expectations, and letting everyone in for disappointment the first time this boy fails. So maybe the best summation would be to say that the kid is a top talent, marrying ability with a natural athletic grace and a cool temperament. Now it is up to the team, the establishment, and the media to nurture him, and bring his potential to full flower.

Yuvraj seemed set for a century on debut, when there was a stutter in the innings, the youngster being kept away from the strike too long as Kumble failed to find the singles. That caused a seeming lapse in concentration, and when Yuvraj did get the strike again, he played the first false shot he had attempted all day, attempting to pull a ball too full for the shot, and putting it up high in the air for the bowler to hold on the follow through.

Overall, the two salient points about the Indian innings, that indicated the need for some work, were (1) the way batsman after batsman fell to soft dismissals when looking good, indicating perhaps that no one with the honourable exception of Yuvraj was concentrating on batting through and, (2), the fact that the lower middle and tail don't appear to have learnt how to maximise the use of the slog, the Indians managing just 47 in the last ten overs and thus falling at least 15 short of the total they could have aimed for.

265 -- the final total reached when Venkatesh Prasad, of all people, struck a crisp cover drive on the up off the last ball of the final over to put the ball over the line for six -- was a very good total to have under the conditions. Australia contributed to it in no small measure with a sloppy performance in the field, Mark Waugh letting go a sharp chance offered by Yuvraj at slip, while normally safe fielders like Bevan and Ponting repeatedly misfielded. There was a touch of the casual about Australia, almost as if it expected the opposition to just roll over and play dead -- an attitude most visible in the fact that though Australia bowled slow and had to finish 19 overs in the last hour of the Indian innings, no effort was made to step up the pace. It was almost like no one cared whether overs were docked or no -- and Australia must consider itself very lucky to have been docked only two overs.

When Australia batted, Zahir Khan for the second straight time impressed, bowling very well to both Gilchrist and Mark Waugh, while Agarkar had a horrible outing. Agarkar has this mental quirk, that he seems to love being the focus of the bowling attack. Thus, when he leads the attack, he bowls well. But when Srinath leads, or now with Zahir, it is as if he is constantly trying to outdo the others, and the result is shoddy line and length, and far too many four-balls on offer.

A very bad ball, though, got Agarkar a wicket when he bowled wide of off, Mark Waugh went chasing after it, the ball flared off the bat and straight to third man to have Australia checked momentarily in its headlong rush, at 43/1. Ian Harvey was sent out to pinch hit, but it was Gilchrist doing all the hitting as he took heavy toll of Agarkar in particular,.

Gilchrist, though, wasn't finding Zahir Khan as easy to get away, thanks to the fact that the youngster used his head, bowled within himself, and focussed on just keeping it there or thereabouts, cramping the left hander for room for strokeplay. To Gilchrist, this seemed to be lese majestie of sorts -- looking to dismiss Zahir from his presence, he aimed a huge pull at a ball too full for the shot, sliced it up, and saw Ganguly hold easily at mid on. A needless dismissal for the vice captain, at a time when the Aussies seemed to be running away with the game.

Ponting came to the wicket, and looked good right from the first spanking on drive he played, off -- who else? Agarkar in his personal nightmare -- and with Harvey doing well at the other end, the temporary stutter was soon put behind them. India's chances seemed to slip even further with the introduction of Prasad who, at his slow pace, was meat and drink for the Aussie strokeplayers.

India has been in that kind of position when batting. Seemingly coasting along, and suddenly, a blinding bit of work in the field would put them on the back foot. This time, it was India's turn. Prasad delivered a lollipop half volley, Harvey went forward and blasted it through the covers, and Yuvraj Singh went flying through the air, to his left, to take a blinder while fully airborne, and at full stretch.

86/3 Australia, but that put Bevan and Ponting together. The two are hugely experienced, brilliant runners, and fluent strokeplayers, and they settled down to make light of the task with some scintillant batting. All the bowling came alike to both of them, and as Australia ended the 25th over on 140/3 with both batsmen in full flow, the result seemed predictable.

After 31 overs, it was 163/3 -- and then Yuvraj turned the match again. Bevan drove firmly to long off and took off for the inevitable single. With an Indian fielder standing back, a single is always on -- which probably explains Bevan's stunned shake of the head as he walked, without waiting for the verdict. Yuvraj Singh, fielding in the deep, raced in as the shot was played, attacking the ball, getting in the right position to take it to his left, and fling down the stumps with a direct hit with the spring-heeled Bevan still to make his ground. The direct hit is an Indian novelty -- but a fielder attacking the ball that way was what really made everyone sit up and take notice.

Steve Waugh, not the most fluent of starters, looked to let Ponting get all the strike, but yet again, a combination of thoughtful bowling and brilliant fielding set Australia back. Sachin Tendulkar had been bowling off breaks throughout. Out of the blue, he slipped in a leg break. Ponting spotted the slightly short length, but did not read the turn, played for the off break, shaped to pull from outside off to leg. The ball turning the other way cramped him a touch, but the ball was still travelling when Robin at square leg flung himself sideways and grabbed a blinder.

Damien Martyn came out, and went back almost immediately, looking to run a straight ball from Robin to third man, and playing all around it to lose off stump. And suddenly, it was all going horribly wrong for the world champions. Shane Lee in next, Waugh gradually settling down, but by now the Indians were on fire in the field, flinging themselves around in a performance that kept the Aussies, normally never shy to take quick singles against the Indians, honest. Good fielding, in fact, produced the next wicket -- Lee flicked at a yorker length ball from Kumble but missed. The ball hit the pad, the batsman was looking around to see where it had gone, when Steve Waugh called for the single and raced down. Ganguly at midwicket kept his wits about him, raced over to square leg, picked up the loose ball, swivelled, and flung the stumps down at the other end with Lee way short of his ground -- a perfect example of what a good team performance can do to lift even the relatively weaker fielders.

That was pretty much that. A horrible 41st over by Kumble, which allowed Brett Lee to thump him for a six and two fours, momentarily let Australia back into the game, but the ask stayed above the run a ball mark despite the blitz, the pressure was always on the Aussies and, noteably, the Indians under pressure upped their game another notch. Zahir Khan was brought back for Kumble, in the 43rd, and the youngster, keeping his nerve, bowled fast and straight, Waugh shaped to give himself room to crash square on the off, was beaten for length and pace, and saw his middle stump knocked out. Agarkar, like Kumble, let the Aussies back in with a horrid 46th over, but he also made one climb as Brett Lee shaped for a predetermined pull, the ball flying off the splice for Ganguly, at midwicket, to run forward, fling himself headlong, and pull off another great catch.

Jason Gillespie gave Agarkar, in the 46th over, a thrashing, but the ask by then was two runs a ball and all those heroics were nothing more, really, than the last flickering of a candle. Robin rounded off a great team effort with a diving catch at point to get rid of Gillespie, and India had won by a comfortable 20 run margin, and against all odds.

There are problems in this team -- Prasad's vulnerability as third seamer being one. Agarkar's waywardness being another. On the day, the team papered over these cracks thanks to some fine bowling by both Sachin Tendulkar and Robin Singh, the latter making a long overdue comeback to the bowling crease and performing very well given the rust he must have accumulated. But the positives outweighed these niggles, and India, now waiting for the result of the South Africa-England game to know its semifinal opponents, have cause to believe that at last, after innumerable false alarms, it is finding the basic ingredients of what could be developed into a very good team.

Most importantly, the team, and the selectors, now know that their experiment with youth has the promise of success -- hopefully, this result will prompt the selectors into stepping up that experiment, before the likes of Mohammad Kaif and Reetinder Singh Sodi, to name just two, join the ranks of those dozens who spend their best years playing bridesmaid, and not getting their due until the waiting, and hoping, has dulled their edge.

Mail Cricket Editor